Crystal Guardian

16

As the sun rose between the trees and beamed orange light down upon them, Aldric breathed in the crisp air and treasured his moment of peace before everyone else woke up. Floyd was the first to stir. He peered under the rim of his hat.

'Morning,' he said gruffly.

'Good morning,' the greeting was returned, but not by Aldric. Ty waved his hand and the ashes of the campfire were swept into the air, dissipating as if they never existed.

'How did you do that?' said Aldric.

'Do what?' said Ty. He turned to Floyd. 'I made sure that you weren't disturbed by phantoms during the night.' Floyd nodded thankfully but Aldric was baffled.

Soon, everybody else had woken up and was eager to get going. The blankets were packed, the home-made bread finished off and Raiden supported lopsided between Floyd and Evie.

'You're leaving?' Ty asked them, the disappointment clear in his voice. It was obvious he was trying to hide it.

'We wanted to say goodbye,' said K.

'I was going to say sorry,' said Aldric.

At these words, Ty grimaced, fed up of hearing it. 'I should be the one apologising,' he said. 'I shouldn't have attacked you like that.'

'You call that an attack?' said Aldric.

Ty smirked.

K and Aldric ran to catch up with the others. It didn't take long to catch up because they were going so slowly. It was Raiden's fault. Though he could now walk on his own, his bones crunched with every step, realigning into place. It was hardly surprising. Floyd strode ahead, livelier than before.

Zace Ella, in all of its glory, stood tall in the late morning sun. Aldric felt somewhat at home but knew they couldn't stay long. It had never been the plan though Floyd seemed to think it was.

'We can't stay,' Aldric tried to explain when Floyd said that they could stay at his house.

'At least stay for some tea,' he protested.

'Does Raiden look like he's in any state to go anywhere?' Evie agreed, holding on to Raiden's arm. 'Besides, it's been ages since we left Atarikka. I'm telling you there's no point. They're all dead.' Her eyes glistened.

'How can you even think that?' K cried. 'You can't give up on them. And your brother-'

'I'm just being realistic,' said Evie, her face scrunched up. 'I've had enough.'

'So what are you planning now?' asked Floyd as they trod through the market place. Aldric was sure everyone was turning to look at them. He wasn't surprised. They must have all looked a state. Evie was tearstained, K red faced and Aldric himself had become skinnier than ever since leaving Iccolsio. He had not even had a proper wash in weeks and his tatty clothes were fraying even more at the edges.

'I'm going back to Atarikka,' Aldric replied, forgetting about his regrettable appearance. There were more important things to think about.

'Me too,' K agreed.

'I suppose that's why Raiden did it,' said Floyd. 'Because it was your pendant that you revived him with, it is now bestowed with what we call a relic. It means that you can take yourself back to the exact location of Raiden's death. You could say he was cheating the system so that you can get back home more quickly.'